"A blog is to a writer what a canvas is to an artist." ~ Colleen Redman

Archive for July, 2011

I keep writing Floydfest 11 for the year but the actual annual event is at year 10 and the Floydfest family has been getting a lot of mileage out of using the Roman numeral X, with words like X-traodinary to describe the 4 day music X-travaganza. Below is a sampling of scenes from Floydfest X […]

The following originally appeared in Natural Awakenings of Southwest Virginia “Don’t leave before you go.” — Alan Forrest on the last morning of the iBme fall self-care retreat What could be sweeter than gently waking after plenty of sleep in your own room at a self-care retreat by the soft sound of a Tibetan bowl […]

1. It’s a sure sign of summer if the chair gets up when you do. ~Walter Winchell 2. This summer of record breaking heat followed a spring that brought some of the most extreme weather on record. Climatologist Heidi Cullen writes, “It’s time to face the fact that the weather isn’t what it used to […]

~ The following originally appeared in the Floyd Press. Floydfest is turning 10 years old this month. A celebration honoring that milestone and the people that made it possible was held at Dogtown Roadhouse on June 29. Floydfest founders Erika Johnson and Kris Hodges and the Across-the-Way Productions staff welcomed over 100 people to the […]

I got punked on Saturday by a Primland Resort photographer while attending Primland’s Golden Eagle Tree House ribbon cutting. My definition of “punked” is when I go to cover an event and take photographs and end up being photographed by someone else covering the event. This picture of me geocaching, a kind of treasure hunting […]

Four years ago I was one of a small group of local writers from The Floyd Writers Circle who helped design and decorate a writers suite at the Hotel Floyd, our downtown green lodging with locally themed rooms that showcase Floyd’s art and literature, handmade furniture, music and mountain culture. An antique wooden desk with […]

1. I was juggling 3-year-old Bryce and his baby brother in my lap, along with a book that Bryce asked me to read. Being uncomfortable, I was reading quick and going through the motions when Bryce interrupted me. “Nana, you’re different,” he said concerned. Turned out that he didn’t approve of the way I was […]

I’m waiting for the muse with a capital M. Not the one that sends me to the garden to pick beans for canning. Or the one makes me jump on the trampoline at night and watch the moon. But the one that has me scrambling for a pen and scribbling on whatever scrap of paper […]

1. Up until Wednesday night it looked like all I had for my 13 list was: Tivek is the Kleenex of siding. 2. My fingers get confused going from commenting on blogs to commenting on Facebook the way my feet get confused while driving a stick shift one day and an automatic next. 3. Note […]

~ The majority of the photos and captions below were published in The Floyd Press newspaper on July 7, 2011. At the Fandango Beer and Wine Festival last Sunday, festival founders Kris Hodges and Erika Johnson pause to pose with their daughter, who is enjoying lemonade from one of the festival food vending tents. Inside […]

1. Got invited to: Nothing. Location: Anywhere. On Facebook by Pearl. 2. Heard on Independence Day: “May the Fourth be with you,” but it was too late to use it in a blog title. 3. After I finish a push of writing several feature stories at a time I take a deep breath and think […]

About

From the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia I write to synthesize what I'm learning at the time, whether it be poetry, a political commentary, or a letter to my mother in Hull, Massachusetts, where I'm originally from. Whenever I don't know exactly what it is I'm doing and it borders on wasting my time, I call it research. 'Dear Abby, How can I get rid of freckles?' was my first published piece at the age of 11.